


at your mercy

by likeuwuahh



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, CEO, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, a poor attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:08:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28069824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likeuwuahh/pseuds/likeuwuahh
Summary: two of the largest business owners at the age of 21, the youngest age to become a CEO. park jihyo and myoui mina have been sworn enemies from before they were born. they should never meet.yet, a function calls for their collaboration and, jihyo finds herself entangled in the mess that is mina's life. the more she's around her, she realises there's a problem.someone is after mina.
Relationships: Chou Tzuyu/Kim Dahyun, Myoui Mina/Park Jisoo | Jihyo, squint for sanayeon - Relationship
Comments: 6
Kudos: 104





	1. stooping low

**Author's Note:**

> hello~ this may seem familiar to some people! that's because this is a re-write/re-post of my fic of the same name
> 
> hope you enjoy this fic :)

“she’s here!”

the conversations in the office quieten down quickly as everyone rushes to their spots. workers line up at the entrance of the building, fixing up their suits and skirts. the head manager makes sure everyone is in their spots, calling out the ones looking like they were about to fall asleep. she clears her throat as they all hear the front door of the building slam shut due to the extreme wind outside.

their ceo walks in, sunglasses perched on her head. she silently greets everyone she passes by, bowing her head to those she knows well. it’s nothing new to the workers who’ve been by her side ever since she had been given the role to take over the company.

they all bow deeply to her as she heads their way, not wanting to be the one to step out of line and suffer her potential wrath.

“good morning.” her voice booms across the entrance of the building. she nods at the head manager before walking off to her office.

her secretary follows behind her as she passes a stack of papers over to their ceo on the way to the elevators. the workers take a deep breath as the intimidating figure disappears from their sights.

“has anyone ever seen her smile?” a new worker mumbles.

“smile? no. but her loyalty is something to admire. miss jihyo has always kept her staff’s wellbeing in mind.” an experienced worker person speaks out, ready to defend their boss. “we should all be glad for have a ceo like her. she may not be bubbly or bright, but she prioritises our needs no matter what happens. that’s why everyone has utmost respect for her and her work ethics.”

park jihyo is 23 and the owner of park industries. the task of running the company had been handed over to her when her father thought it was the right time, two years back. the first thing that her father drilled into her as she walked into the whole world of business was that one should never expose their true colours. always have a façade. this industry is filled with sharks who are always trying to find a weakness in your methods to bite you and bring you down.

listening to his advice, she didn’t care how anyone else saw her anymore. she refuses to show that she could be defeated in anything she participates in. that is why her company is now one of the top clothing producers and manufacturers in the world. her fashion brand,  _ chanson d'amour _ , is present in thousands of stores in cities across the globe.

why  _ chanson d'amour _ ? for jihyo, when she rebranded her father’s collection, she wanted it to be something memorable. her parents were her inspiration when she was a child. she always saw her father serenade her mother on early saturday mornings. they were all love songs. ones that stuck to her, even now.  _ chanson d'amour  _ has the literal meaning of “love song”. it seems cheesy but it’s the memories that she keeps close to her heart.

despite how she looks to others, jihyo is generally a positive person. that’s why she can still see the blissful moments shared between her parents, even after they split apart terribly. at first, jihyo wanted to be the type of person who turned off her emotions. she saw what she never wanted to witness. she observed the downwards spiral her father was going through and it was all because of her parents’ divorce. however, she found a better solution. though seeing the suffering wavered her belief in the existence of the emotion of love, now, she refuses to let it become her weakness.

the park jihyo that the business world knows is bold and ambitious. she’s powerful and she’s demanding. she’s talented and she can be sneaky. she oozes with confidence and never backs down from a challenge. she’s one of the youngest ceos to take over a company so significant.

everyone has expectations of her.

everyone thinks they know her.

but, no one truly does.

well, maybe just chou tzuyu.

the one person who she trusts more than anything is her secretary. she’s been by her side every step of the way, as a friend and a supporter. basically, she’s the one who makes sure jihyo isn’t irrational or making silly decisions for the company. she’s incredibly smart and she’s the brainbox that’s behind the expansion of  _ chanson d'amour _ . but tzuyu is also stuck with dealing with jihyo’s anger and frustrations. and she really doesn’t know what she did to deserve such loyalty on her part, but she’ll always be grateful.

“plans for today?” jihyo asks as she steps inside her office.

“you have a board meeting at midday and then another meeting with the head of  _ la belle  _ fashion studios for clarification of the fundraiser you’ll be participating in.” tzuyu answers, handing over a stack of sheets that needed her signature. “the pay rise you wanted to implement for the workers has also been completed. from the following fortnight pay slip, it’ll be evident.”

“thanks, tzuyu. what time is the meeting with  _ la belle  _ again?” jihyo furrows her eyebrows as she leans back in her chair. for her, that will be the focus for the day.

“4pm. there will be another person with us during the meeting.” tzuyu hesitantly slides the ipad towards jihyo.

“another person? who is it?” jihyo suddenly panics. there’s only one person who would truly dare to disrupt her plans.

“an investor like you. i’m sure you have an inkling of who it could be.” tzuyu chuckles, bowing and walking out of her room.

“bloody myoui…” jihyo mutters under her breath as she spots the name plastered on the meeting agenda.

/

when myoui mina wants something, she doesn’t let anything get in between of her and what she desires. but, this time, she guesses that she has to deal with sharing – even though she didn’t like the way things were probably going to head towards.

(also, she might get a kick out of annoying the ceo of park industries; but you didn’t hear that from her)

it astounds her how the things that they both desire seem to overlap sometimes. this fundraiser is set for helping out against child abuse. she immediately wanted to join in on it as soon as she heard about the cause but apparently, she hadn’t been quick enough because park jihyo had beat her to it. so, now they’re both going to have to collaborate together to finalise a line up for the runway of  _ la belle _ , set to be held a month from now.

the entire industry knows how competitive both herself and park can be. the long-standing enmity is not hidden under wraps. though mina has no idea  _ how  _ or  _ why  _ the two companies are enemies, there’s a thrill in stealing investors and locations that the park industries seek to claim or purchase. well, it isn’t really stealing. she’s just very convincing when she wants to be, needs to be. and the look of anger on jihyo’s face when that happens is  _ always _ amusing.

never in her imagination had she ever expected an instance where she’d have to work by jihyo’s side but this will be the first instance and hopefully, the last. she isn’t going to give up a great chance to get her  _ primavera  _ line shown to the rest of the celebrities and a-listers who’ll be attending the  _ la belle _ fundraiser. she’s just going to have to swallow her pride and get on with it – with some side teasing as well, of course.

mina has been running the company on her own ever since both her parents had passed, roughly two years earlier. the accident that took her parents from her left her emotionally detached from almost everything around her. her brother hadn’t been impressed in the slightest when she was given all the shares and stocks of the company, leaving him empty handed. he’s always tried to sabotage her assignments and plans for the company but he lacks the skill to cause enough damage that would ruin her. she’s always been wary of him ever since she’d noticed how he tried to manipulate their parents to favour him over her.

she hates her brother.

goddamn, she hates him with all the hatred she can muster.

there’s a rage burning inside of her whenever she sees that smirk on her brother’s face when he walks into meeting rooms. it takes a lot to not just grab him by the collar and throw him out of the office. but, as her parents wished for her to let him work under her, she can’t do that. however, what she  _ can _ do is ruin him if he tries to come in between of the company again. mina is doing a lot for the sake of her parents already.

she has a pessimistic view of most things in life because she simply can’t take the risk of someone trying to benefit off her. mina hates people who try to suck up to you so that they can get on your good side. who she is has been shaped by her experiences. the people around her have forced her to become closed off to the world. they’ve made her become cautious and perceptive of her surroundings.

on the other hand, the whole situation with park industries. the hatred she has for park jihyo might be hypocritical. you see, it’s quite easy to note that she is pretending to be someone she’s not.

sure, mina might be like that in some ways but it’s obvious that her  _ entire  _ being is completely different of who she says she is.

park jihyo is unkind, selfish and only thinks about herself. her ambitious nature makes her personality clear for everyone to see. it represents what she’s like, yet, miraculously people turn a blind eye and think that she’s an innocent and hard-working individual.

that’s terribly wrong.

and she’s going to show that is the case.

“dahyun. are we ready for the meeting at  _ la belle _ ?” mina calls out to her secretary.

“you have nothing in between so you can leave earlier if that’s what you want?” dahyun answers as she walks inside her room.

“mhmm. let’s go.” mina nods, clearing up her desk and heading out of her office with dahyun in tow.

“i really didn’t expect that you’d be willing to participate in this, you know? i always thought you wanted to avoid miss park.” dahyun converses as they head towards her car. mina can’t really blame her for thinking that way.

“we try to stay out of each other’s paths but i guess this time will just be different. i’m pretty sure she already has steam coming out of her ears in anger.” mina chuckles as she relaxes in her seat.

there’ll definitely be an interesting meeting to come.

/

“hey, calm down and breathe. i’m sure she doesn’t have a major reason for this, okay?” tzuyu tries to comfort her boss, stress levels reaching new heights.

“we’ve been at it for two years already and we’ve never met. what the hell is on her mind? why is she so bratty? argh!” jihyo groans in frustration.

“well, you’re obviously letting her get to you. maybe that’s what she wants.” tzuyu answers nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders.

as if a lightbulb goes off in her head, jihyo’s mood turns around. “wait, that’s true. she’s probably trying to get me riled up and angry at her so that i’ll blow. tzuyu, you’re a genius!” jihyo squeals before hugging her secretary.

“what did i say about hugs.” tzuyu threatens as she glares at jihyo. it doesn’t work but jihyo applauds her for trying.

“come on~ let me give you a hug.”

“no physical contact!”

“thanks.” jihyo chuckles, patting her head.

“let’s go now before i get attacked again.” tzuyu huffs, leading jihyo out of her building.

“we’re on schedule, right?” jihyo asks her driver as she sits inside. she’d rather arrive there earlier than she needed to.

“yes ma’am. just another ten minutes.” he responds quickly, focusing on the road again.

however, just moments later, he brakes harshly, releasing a string of profanities as the car hits the back of a mercedes who suddenly chose to swerve into their lane.

“oh god.” jihyo rushes, getting out of the car quickly to check up on the damaged car.

“is everyone okay?” tzuyu joins in, trying to help the passengers.

a woman sits hunched over in the back seat and jihyo opens it quickly, thinking that she’s hurt. she lays a hand on her shoulder, feeling her flinch under her touch. tzuyu is already tending to the other lady in the car and the two drivers were conversing about insurance. so, jihyo assumes that there were only three people in the car.

“miss? are you okay?” jihyo asks softly, not wanting to spook the woman any further.

“mom? dad?” the woman whispered.

“hey, it’s okay. nothing happened. are you hurt?” jihyo questions. she didn’t want to overwhelm her. she seems to clearly be in shock.

jihyo did a double take as soon as the woman looked up at her. she could only curse under breath about her luck, or rather, her misfortune.

it’s hard not to able to distinguish the woman in front of her – the person who had tiny moles scattered across her face like a constellation of stars. her gaze was filled with anger and irritation when she notices jihyo’s presence. but she could only stay rooted in her spot because mina’s beauty is way more than she ever expected. though, her moments of admiration of the fellow ceo were cut short when mina abruptly stands up and pushes jihyo away from her.

jihyo hisses as she’s pushed against her own car. how did mina just hide that tiny bit of emotion she’d shown so quickly? why was she whispering about her parents in such a way that tugged at the strings of her heart?

“what kind of cheap trick are you trying to pull here right now park!” mina shouts, jabbing a finger into her chest and turning everyone’s attention to them.

“wh– what are you talking about?” jihyo stutters, feeling suddenly intimidated by the distance.

“just because i got myself a part of the fundraiser, doesn’t mean you can try to ruin plans.” mina snickers, riling jihyo up.

“excuse me? you think i’d stoop that low? for your information, it was your driver’s fault!” jihyo argues, regaining her composure as mina insults her with her claims. she’d only tried to be nice but it backfires on her, as always.

“sure, blame it on  _ my  _ driver when it was clearly  _ you  _ who hit our car!”

“that wouldn’t have happened if  _ your  _ driver hadn’t come in front of ours so quickly. it’s obviously  _ your  _ fault!”

not wanting to deal with the useless conversation, jihyo walks away, back to her car. next time, she’s not going to be the first one to offer their helping hand.

“yeah, walk away now!”

dahyun and tzuyu sigh at the two, apologising before approaching their respective bosses to calm them down. how are either of them going to be able to work by each other’s side with this fundraiser? god help the staff of the event for what’s to come because if this is what happens in the span of ten minutes, who knows what entails in the following week.

“ma’am, we sorted out insurance details but i won’t be able to drive this car to  _ la belle _ .” mina’s driver whispers.

“what do you mean?! i can’t be late!” mina hisses.

“we can always ride with miss park.” dahyun suggests, turning both of their heads towards their direction.

“no–”

“that will be fine.” jihyo cut off mina’s wishes. “a good suggestion miss dahyun.”

“if this is another one of your plans–”

“i have no plans to ruin how you present yourself at  _ la belle _ . i’m not gaining anything out of this or thinking of manipulating the situation to turn it into my favour.” jihyo halts mina’s speech yet again. she’s turning red from being cut off. “is there anything else you’d like to assume?”

“no.” mina mumbles, moving to the back seat of the car as she gives up.

“tzuyu, can you drive? i’m guessing our driver would want to talk things out with the other one.” jihyo commands, throwing the keys in her direction.

“you expect me to sit at the back with  _ you _ ?” mina scoffs.

“would you rather walk to  _ la belle _ ?” jihyo’s patience is running thin with her attitude, but she doesn’t let it get to her. she’s busy looking out the window as tzuyu drives to their destination. she hears mina huff next to her but she remains quiet for the rest of the trip.

jihyo can see the two girls at the front making small talk and she can easily notice how nervous tzuyu is. her stuttering and her exaggerated hand actions that were present when they first met are showing again. she’s rooting for her secretary and her blatant crush on dahyun. their eyes met through the rear mirror and jihyo secretly offers her an encouraging thumbs-up, effectively making tzuyu blush.

“oh, are you okay?! you suddenly turned red!” dahyun asks worriedly, touching tzuyu’s cheek.

jihyo tries her best to keep in her laughter in at the back and tzuyu looks like she’s about to kill her boss. this is all her fault in the first place!

“no, no. i’m fine miss dahyun.” tzuyu mumbles, gently pushing dahyun’s hand away. “we’re almost here.”

as soon as tzuyu parks the car, mina steps out, dragging dahyun along with her who wanted to say something to tzuyu before she left. tzuyu takes the chance to shoot a glare at jihyo, smacking her arm subtly.

“what was that for?” jihyo whines as she rubbed her sore arm. “i didn’t even say anything.”

“your eyes and actions say a lot! let’s go.” tzuyu sighs, pushing jihyo in front of her.

jihyo hums and walks ahead, mind wandering over to mina and how she’d reacted earlier. it’s clear that she’s as stubborn as they all say. she’s stern but jihyo would not be able to deal with that kind of attitude around her when she works. it’s completely bratty. but, then, jihyo considers the other side to her that she’d seen for a split second that.

it makes jihyo think that there’s so much more to myoui mina than what the world sees. for one, she’s absolutely beautiful and two, maybe there’s a part of her somewhere that is her true self – something she’s kept hidden away like herself, just like jihyo.

“what are you thinking about? miss myoui, perhaps?” tzuyu teases.

“yes, like my mind is wandering off to that brat. yours is probably filled with dahyun. ‘ _ no, no. i’m fine miss dahyun _ ’.” jihyo mocks, basking in the sight of tzuyu’s reddening ears.

“stop teasing me!”

“you started it.”

the two of them bicker for a little bit before they reach outside  _ la belle’s  _ main office. mina is still standing outside with dahyun as they got there and jihyo is tempted to laugh, discarding the thought when mina turns her way. what did mina rush here for then? the meeting isn’t for another few minutes anyway and these schedules are always about timing.

“oh, you’re all here together. that’s brilliant! it’s great to see you so chummy with each other. i’m sure the fundraiser will be great with the two most talented designers in the world.” the host greets brightly. “please make yourself comfortable as we discuss things for the program.”


	2. completely infuriating

“it’s great to finally meet the two of you. my name is im nayeon and this is my secretary minatozaki sana.” she greets, sana bowing as well. “i see that the two of you arrived together. it only pleases me that you are on good terms as we prepare for the event.

“oh, we’re not–”

“thank you for the honour.” jihyo speaks up, cutting off mina’s words before she continued her sentence. she knew the japanese girl is glaring at her but she isn’t going to falter. the stakes are too high to work on such an event and neither of them can ruin their chances.

she isn’t going to let this out of their hands, even if it means pretending things are great between herself and mina. they could be civil in front of the public. at least, jihyo hopes they could. unless mina tries to aggravate her, their fake friendship should be just fine.

“what did you two have planned for the show? i know that you want to put up your private collections on display on the runway.” nayeon asks, beginning to take notes.

“there can always be an auction for one of the items.” jihyo suggests. auctions usually fare well during these types of fundraisers.

“you mean, like one of your dresses? one per person?” nayeon looks over to mina for confirmation.

“how much would that garner? that’s definitely not a good idea.” mina denies and shakes her head.

“well, each dress or outfit could go for thousands. this event is for a good cause. i’m sure that the crowd would be interesting in raising funds for it. unless you have another idea?” jihyo knew she couldn’t have faith in mina holding this façade together.

mina shoots a glare towards jihyo as they continue to bicker about it. jihyo simply smiles, forcefully so.

(admittedly, it  _ is _ a brilliant idea but mina just wants to say no for the sake of it.

when is she ever going to acknowledge that jihyo has great ideas? never)

nayeon turns her attention to mina to see if she has anything to add to the suggestions. “would more people bid or would we benefit from holding a raffle?” mina puts forward proudly. on the side, jihyo rolls her eyes. of course, she always has to have something to add.

“hmm. raffles are a great way to gain funds but the thing is that it’s not usually present in such high-class events.” nayeon considers mina’s words thoughtfully as she pauses her notetaking.

“we can always put one up for a raffle while the other goes on auction.” jihyo wants things to be fair and if mina wants a raffle, why not include both?

“that would make it a mix of things and make it seem less informal.” nayeon nods before turning to her secretary and mumbling under her breath.

jihyo furrows her eyebrows as mina continues to glare at her. she’d taken her side and even agreed to her idea. there’s no reason for her to be mad at jihyo anymore. what is her problem _now_? she refuses to talk to jihyo and then suddenly, she’s furious.

“i think we’re all set for the runway details then. did you want to give your input in anything else for the show before i give my last suggestion?” nayeon offers.

“lighting and decorations are all set?” mina questions. “i suppose that’d be the last thing of importance.”

“well, not yet. but we were on the way of organising that. unless you two want to work on that too?” nayeon’s voice is hopeful as she looks between the two of them.

“that would be a good experience, i believe.” jihyo contemplates, looking to mina for her acknowledgement. she watches as mina refuses to make eye-contact, clearly because of jihyo’s constant gaze on her. mina clears her throat, trying to gain her composure again and nods.

“then i’ll let you two girls sort that out. if you have any questions, or you need a hand, feel free to contact me.” nayeon smiles, offering them her business card. “the venue has been set and you can head there whenever you want to.”

both girls bow and exit the room, a grin present on jihyo’s face as she thinks about the possibilities of colours and set pieces for the hall. it’s always been a secret hobby of hers to decorate rooms and organise things and she really can’t wait to get started on this project, even if mina seems to want to rip her head off.

“what are you smiling about?” mina snickers, breaking her out of her daze.

for a moment, jihyo thinks she notices a flash of surprise on her face when she turns to face mina quickly. but, her guarded expression replaces it and jihyo is left confused yet again. the more she hangs around mina, the more she’s baffled by her behaviour. tzuyu stifles a laugh next to jihyo and she’s tempted to step on her foot with her 3 inch heels for finding the situation funny in the first place.

“why? does it bother you?” jihyo retorts, earning a scoff from mina.

“it’s not a bother. i just don’t want you to be scheming more problems for this fundraiser than you have done already.” mina responds coldly, effectively ruining jihyo’s mood.

jihyo sighs at the unsurprising attitude the other ceo holds. it seems like there’s more to what the public paints her as. yes, mina never fails to show what she thinks of people. on the other hand, there are specks of instances where there’s other parts of her to see. barely there, but if you look closely, clearly evident. the more jihyo looks at mina, the more she notices the discrepancies. and, she wants to get to the bottom of it.  _ who _ is myoui mina really?

although she knows how torturous this fundraiser is going to be, she’ll still hold on to it and not get trapped under mina’s thumb. earlier, she’d noticed how quick mina was to shoot down her idea back in the meeting room, but she won’t like dealing with that kind of attitude when it comes to organising the decorations and lights later on.

“are you free now? we should head to the hall to have a look at the floor space and surroundings.” jihyo asks, ignoring mina’s dig at her intentions.

“i’m a very busy person–”

“there is no doubt you are. but how are you going to go anywhere else? your driver is yet to arrive with your car. will you catch a bus, myoui?” jihyo smirks, rendering mina speechless.

tzuyu and dahyun exchange an amused smile at their bosses’ interactions. the two of them are constantly trying to outshine the other and  _ possibly _ attempting to make the other as angry and annoyed as they could.

“is han not done with the car yet?” mina whispers to dahyun.

“nope. he said he’ll take some time.” dahyun grins as mina sulks beside her. “look, take this chance as a head start on your work together. you’ll have less piled up in the following week.” she encourages, patting mina’s back.

“you’re right.” mina mumbles, nodding and turning back to jihyo. “we’ll go.”

jihyo smiles at the two girls and leads them to the carpark where they’d arrived from. tzuyu falls back into stride with dahyun, leaving mina by her side instead. awkwardness is the only thing present in the air between them and neither of the two want to fix it. it’s more along the lines of the fact that they didn’t know  _ how  _ to.

as they could see it, both of their secretaries had immersed themselves in a deep conversation. and as jihyo judges how enthusiastic tzuyu is, she’s sure it’s about another one of those popular korean dramas she keeps going on about. she never hears the end of those stories about the typical rich boy and poor girl falling in love with each other with parents or ex-lovers as the problem. how does the girl always have the latest smartphone, but everything else remains tattered? jihyo rolls her eyes at the plotline all the time. how do people watch them with so much enthusiasm? she’s sure that people watched it for the lead couple rather than the actual plot. it beats her.

she’d rather watch something action-packed like the  _ avengers  _ series instead. much better use of her time than stupid love stories.

“do you have any idea what they’re talking about?” mina whispers.

honestly, jihyo almost stops in her tracks as the girl talks. she almost thought that she’s hearing things. is myoui mina asking her a question, rather than demanding something? is she actually starting up a conversation with her instead of jumping to conclusions like she always does? her voice is so low, she could’ve easily imagined it.

“some drama, probably.” jihyo’s voice is as low as mina did, just in case she  _ did  _ hear things. she didn’t want to make a fool out of herself.

mina nods and refrains from making further conversations between them. god, it’s so awkward. why did the walk feel like it’s never going to end? not to add that the two of them are also going to have to sit next to each other throughout the ride to the hall as well. may someone help the two of them survive this craziness.

absentmindedly, the two drift away from each other. jihyo still on the footpath why mina had moved to walk on the main road. the roar of a car echoes in the car park and jihyo looks towards the direction. the car whizzes past mina and jihyo pulls her away just in time, breathing heavily as she safely manoeuvers mina towards her. her arms are firmly planted on her waist and jihyo didn’t fail to hear the gasp that escapes mina’s lips as she holds her closer in her embrace.

“are you out of your mind?” jihyo scolds. “why are you walking on the road?!”

simply shooting jihyo a glare, mina remains silent, much to jihyo’s disdain.

“why do you care where i walk?” mina sneers. jihyo blanches, dropping her hand like she’d been burnt.  _ obviously,  _ mina wouldn’t say thank you to her. what is she thinking?

“unbelievable.” jihyo scoffs, walking ahead of mina now. how can she turn bratty so quickly? would it kill her to say thank you? maybe she should’ve just let it be.

but, she almost thought her heart was going to leave her chest when she’d seen that car approaching, clearly coming behind her. it was a split-second decision to pull her close to her. the car was travelling way too fast in a car park and that added to her reflexes.

a chill runs up jihyo’s spine as she thought of the possibility of not getting to mina fast enough right then. she can’t believe she’d tried to save that bratty woman’s life, but there’s no point thinking about it any longer. the reaction is enough for her to read their situation. she’ll never try to help her out again.

the two secretaries stifle a string of curses at the tense atmosphere between their bosses as they watch it all unfold. just when they thought things are okay, the twenty-centimetre gap between them has now turned into a metre.

“how are they going to even pass this?” dahyun mumbles, having little faith in the union.

“on the bright side, they aren’t killing each other!” tzuyu tries to remain positive, making dahyun chuckle.

“i wonder how long it’ll last. let’s just wait to get to the hall. mina is one picky person.” dahyun shakes her head.

“i’m sure it won’t be  _ that  _ bad.” tzuyu laughs nervously. she doesn’t want things to become worse for her boss.

“you saw them when we had the accident  _ and  _ when we left the meeting room. i’m sure it’s going to be bad for us to manage.” dahyun is disgruntled by their behaviour.

“but you’ll be there too. so, i know at least i won’t be having a bad time.” tzuyu speaks bluntly, feeling a hint of satisfaction as she spots the blush that creeps up on dahyun’s cheeks.

“h-hey!” dahyun stutters, left flustered as tzuyu goes on to open the door for the driver’s seat. she fans her face, hoping it would cool down her tomato cheeks.

“dahyun? are you okay?” mina suddenly asks, frowning as she looks over at dahyun.

on the side, they could spot jihyo and tzuyu giggling together at something she couldn’t comprehend.

“was it the secretary? did she do something?” mina suddenly got angry, gaining their attention.

“no–”

“whatever you two are planning,  _ again _ , could you leave  **my** secretary out of it?” mina growls.

“what the hell are you talking about myoui?” jihyo frowns as she walks towards mina.

“stop. trying. to. sabotage. me.” mina seethes.

“i think you should hear your secretary out before you assume things, myoui.” jihyo crosses her arms over her chest as she stands right in front of mina, intimidating the japanese woman.

she couldn’t help but feel insulted by the amount of times mina had claimed she’s doing this for the sake of ruining things. once would’ve been fine, but she keeps throwing it in her face and it’s nowhere near where her intentions lay. and then there was also her argument against keeping mina off the road when all she wanted to do was protect her from harm.

jihyo struggles to keep her composure as the anger seeps into her bones and travels towards her head. jihyo has to stay calm. she isn’t one to blow up in public but she’s at her breaking point. mina is really testing her patience today.

the air around the two of them suddenly shifts, feeling a lot more tense. jihyo miscalculates their distance and can pick up on her effect on mina, who’s struggling to breathe, most likely from anger. she pulls back, gives her the space she needs, letting herself calm down as well. everything about her is too infuriating.

“it’s okay.” dahyun sighs, pulling mina’s hand to explain what had happened. jihyo watches her expression, noting how mina reddens as she realises she’d made a mistake, again. once again, assuming things like she’s been doing ever since they’d met.

“tzuyu, let’s just go.” jihyo demands, ignoring mina’s possible attempt at an apology as she inches forward towards her.

once they’re all seated in the car, an uncomfortable silence settles in the surrounding atmosphere. no one wants to speak because they’re frightened of the brooding jihyo at the back, who’s just staring out the window and ignoring everyone’s presence. then, on the other side, mina remains busy gazing upon jihyo’s figure, wondering what to do to solve the problem that she created. it’s not like she didn’t know that she hit a nerve when jihyo rescued her and she’d argued. she made things worse when mina assumed yet  _ again,  _ that she was up to no good.

you can’t really blame mina for this.

well, you  _ can _ .

but technically, mina is used to shutting everyone down around her. she didn’t like owing others. she retorts and pretends that she’s superior because it’s the only way to show that she had no weaknesses. take it as a defence mechanism. if someone tries to get close to her, she’ll never think they have true intentions. she snaps at them and pretends that she’s too good for them, which successfully lets her off the hook – even if it ends up with a brooding woman.

though, this time, it’s bothering her more than she’d like to admit. seeing jihyo like this reminds her of a kicked puppy and mina wants the image out of her head. she can’t let herself waver like this when she’s spent years perfecting her personality in the eyes of the public.

“we’re here.” tzuyu announces as she parks behind the large building they were given the address for.

the four girls gape at the size of the stunning, multi-levelled hall. it could easily seat thousands of people inside. they really have their work cut out for them, unless nayeon didn’t want to use the upper levels. maybe a vvip section could be created for the upper levels instead.

jihyo’s mind races with ideas and plans for the event. all anger from before had diffused like smoke and she’s solely focused on this. she’s excited and enthused for the planning, but she tries not to show it. she isn’t  _ that  _ experienced in organising events but she’d held a few of her own for smaller crowds. they hadn’t even chosen a theme for the charity fundraiser yet. invitations should be sent out soon so they needed to consider ticket prices and the theme first.

tzuyu and dahyun leave the two girls to discuss matters as they walk around the hall. it’s not like they could have much input into the planning and they’d much rather leave their bosses to do the task anyway. the two of them could just tour the place while details are being organised for the event.

jihyo clears her throat as soon as she notices the departure of their secretaries. she gestures for mina to have a seat, surprised that she listens to her immediately. jihyo might have not realised it’s obvious, but mina finds her excitement adorable. to make up for her poor attitude from earlier, she’s going to pay attention and let jihyo handle things (it sounded like it would be impossible in her head too, don’t worry).

she’s becoming soft after seeing this different side of jihyo and she knows she shouldn’t. she’s meant to be competitive and argue with everything that she’s saying. so that in the end, her own opinions could be heard and put into place for the event.

but each time she thinks about how she wants to put her foot down, she remembers the way she’d been treating jihyo, the way jihyo has only been kind to her and the guilt ate up at her immediately.

damn her conscience!

“your primavera line – is it a certain theme…?” jihyo asks hesitantly, unsure of how their conversation will go.

“it’s a mix. i plan out clothes per season.” mina answers dutifully.

“so, since it’s winter time now, should we have that as our theme?” jihyo suggests.

mina frowns at the questions jihyo is directing towards her. she’s asking for her input more than she expected her to, so maybe she can push her thoughts through, since jihyo is offering, after all.

“no.” mina shakes her head.

“no?” jihyo’s eyes widen as she hears her response.

“so what if it’s winter time now? it doesn’t mean we have to follow on.” mina argues.

“you’re telling me, that in winter, people are going to participate in bids and raffles for swimsuits or dresses?” jihyo scoffs at her ridiculousness.

“complimentary seasons would be a good idea!” mina points out.

“are you even listening to me? do you want the attendees to not participate? summer will be two seasons away from winter. meaning, we’ll be giving them an insight into the fashion we have prepared way too early. at least, if we continue with a winter theme, they can think of purchasing items. if we release a summer line, there’s a high chance that the crowd won’t be pleased. as a line that is released about 6 months later, why would they be interested in looking at it now?” jihyo sighs heavily as she explains her thoughts.

“but that’s the thing. they get to see a line of clothing, 6 months before it’s released! that should be exciting. it’s a good plan!” mina reasons.

“how about one line of winter and one line of summer?” jihyo offers. actually, mina has a point there. it would make people more eager to look forward to the line in the future.

mina contemplates jihyo’s suggestion seriously this time because her arguments are all valid.  _ and  _ it will be good to meet in the middle with their ideas or else things would never get sorted for the fundraiser. it’s just that she couldn’t be expected to say yes to all of jihyo’s suggestions immediately without arguing a little bit. it would make her seem like she’s a pushover – which she  _ definitely  _ isn’t.

“i think that’s a good idea. a mix of two seasons would make it unique. it’s not a common theme for fundraisers and i think we can work around it.” mina nods, hearing a sigh of relief leave jihyo’s lips.

“well, at least we have a start.” jihyo hums, making note of their plans.

it’s starting to seem like things may work out, despite the sluggish pace. maybe they won’t be at each other’s throats by the end of this project.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @likeuwuahh on twitter

**Author's Note:**

> @likeuwuahh on twitter


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